I don't see anyone claiming Filewich because I don't see any team carrying him on their NHL roster. Stone might be a different story. It's very disappointing that he couldn't take advantage of this opportunity.

I think this locks Taffe up. Pesonen and Thomas are still in the mix and it looks like one of the two will at least make the trip to Sweden. If Gonchar is out, this also probably brings Richmond to Sweden as well if they bring eight D.

God I hope so, but even then...re-entry waivers unless they're emergency call-ups. I would think that unless someone gets hurt these guys could lead the AHL in points (not likely but it underscores my point) and not make it to the NHL this year.

With all the depth at WBS now, they might not even get above the third line if they make it down there. Both really struggled to score last season. I hope Filewich and Stone for that matter pull a Colby Armstrong and really put it together after having cleared waivers. They've moved even beyond fringe prospects now I think and officially into AHL depth now that they're in their fourth AHL seasons.

I might be wrong but I don't know if they're subject to re-entry waivers.

Henry Hank wrote:I think this locks Taffe up. Pesonen and Thomas are still in the mix and it looks like one of the two will at least make the trip to Sweden. If Gonchar is out, this also probably brings Richmond to Sweden as well if they bring eight D.

Yeah, thanks to what sounded like an impressive camp, Richmond is now right behind Gogo on the overall depth chart. Nice to see he's stepped up his game a bit (and it makes Shero look good too )

If you've got a tentative 4th line of godard-taffe-kennedy, don't the Pens usually carry two healthy scratches during the regular season, so wouldn't both Pesonen and Thomas be able to stay up?

Well, they'll probably take the full 24 to Sweden... I'm assuming an extra goalie (Curry), two dmen (Goligoski and Richmond) and one forward (Pesonen or Thomas). Then when they get back to America, they'll send Curry, Goligoski, and Richmond back down, at least. They've usually started at a pretty bare bones roster, maybe this year will be different.

Richmond earned a chance to show himself a little more. I reported from day one that he was on top of his game. With Gonchar and Whitney out, we're on injury away from an issue. Richmond can serviceably play on a 2nd power-play unit if needed. He was making things happen all camp long from the point. Despite the fact that Konopka beat him, showing a willingness to fight is something new for him, and it can only go from there.

After looking at faceoff factors up to date depth chart. It looks like the last 2 forward spots will come down to Bissonnette/Thomas/Pesonen/James...If they are going to go with 14 forwards, I will say Thomas and Pesonen...

Henry Hank wrote:Well, they'll probably take the full 24 to Sweden... I'm assuming an extra goalie (Curry), two dmen (Goligoski and Richmond) and one forward (Pesonen or Thomas). Then when they get back to America, they'll send Curry, Goligoski, and Richmond back down, at least. They've usually started at a pretty bare bones roster, maybe this year will be different.

Yeah but do you really think they should take Goligoski on the Pens if he isn't going to be in the top 6. I'd rather have him being the #1 D-man in Wilkes/Barre rather than a healthy scratch.

Actually, the more I think about it...I would consider keeping Bissonnette up with the big club as the 13th/14th forward. He could be inserted into the lineup when we play the tougher teams and it would allow Pesonen to play top line minutes in WBS...

Beech, Stone, and Filewich are all subject to waivers but not re-entry waivers. I believe they are all on two-way contracts and earn less than $100,000 for their play in the AHL. The AHL salary determines whether a player goes through re-entry waivers on the way up. That is why Nas had a AHL salary of $99,000 last year. He hoped it would make him more attractive to be called up.

I guess that horrid game on Saturday night from Beech really hurt him. I do not think Bissonnette and James have much of a chance to beat out the rest of the forwards, unless the team is really considering using Bissonnette in a F/D role like Schubert or Dandenault.

I do not think Beech, Stone , or Filewich will be picked by another team since Tampa Bay will be exposing much better players to waivers before the start of the season.

KG wrote:Actually, the more I think about it...I would consider keeping Bissonnette up with the big club as the 13th/14th forward. He could be inserted into the lineup when we play the tougher teams and it would allow Pesonen to play top line minutes in WBS...

Bissonnette/Thomas is my final vote!

I actually, think the same about Bissonnette. He'd be a nice middleweight to have around as an extra forward and/or defenseman. And, if he's kept, it might allow Shero to keep 7 defensemen rather than 8.

So, as you see, keeping Bissonnette gives the Pens a physical fourth liner for teams like Philly, etc, and also gives depth on defense if the team is in a pinch. For those reasons, I like him over Thomas.

By the way, I could see Shero making a small trade to change the makeup of the team. I just can't see Pesonen as a fourth liner, and, looking at that fourth line, the Penguins are very small and weak. They'd get destroyed against bigger opponents.